Vatican City
The smallest country in the world offers the heart of Catholicism and among the
world's finest art collections, including the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael
Rooms (ceiling pictured). Go to Vatican City!

Austria
Belvedere Palace (pictured) is just one of many palaces found in Vienna. The capital
is a good start to Austria, which also features the Alps, the Lakes District, and
incredible history & food. Go Now!

The Hungarians are an ethnic and linguistic oddity in Europe as they have historic
roots in Central Asia. However, over time the people have changed dramatically in
many ways and today are very similar to much of Europe in terms of culture and lifestyle,
despite their ethnic and linguistic differences.

Early Magyar (Hungarian) settlers to Europe found the lands of modern day Hungary
to be ideal in terms of farming, herding, and raising animals. These people's
ancestors were generally nomadic people who lived off the lands and animals present
and they found a piece of land in Europe with similar rolling hills and grasslands
that made their settlement in this particular location a natural fit. However, their
historic lifestyle and culture was slowly lost on these new lands.

While the early settlers fought invaders and lived off the lands as nomads and herders,
the people didn't take too long to settle the lands and form permanent settlements.
However, the lifestyle was still based on the lands as farming and raising animals
was at the core of the daily life.

As the people of Europe settled and the Magyars began interacting with neighboring
people, the culture and the lifestyle changed dramatically. While their language
remained, nearly everything else changed, beginning with their conversion to Christianity,
their first link to Europe in a cultural sense. This new religion also encouraged
foreign settlers to the lands, settlers who arrived with new ideals, technologies,
and foods.

Although power shifted over time, the Magyars continued to develop their own particular
culture and lifestyle, a culture and lifestyle that was always tied to Europe. The
similarities between Hungarian culture and European culture peaked with Austrian-Hungarian
unification as these two powers controlled much of central and eastern Europe. This
helped spread Hungarian influence, while also introducing cultural aspects from
neighboring countries to Hungary.

The lifestyle also continued to change over time, particularly under communist rule
in the 1900s. While the communists introduced new technologies and better infrastructure,
they also urbanized the population to a great degree, changed the occupations of
the people, and altered the economy and political situation. This changed the lifestyle
and the mentality of the people as the Hungarians gained a stronger identity, one
that was very opposed to communism, communist principles, and most particularly
a communist economy.

Today the Magyars are an anomaly in many ways as they are ethnically Central Asian
and still speak a language from that region. However, today the Magyars are more
culturally tied to Europe as nearly every aspect of their culture reflects this
continent, although they maintain many unique aspects of their culture, not unlike
their language and ethnicity.